Physicians and pharmacists frequently prescribe medications that must be taken in limited quantities. When the medicine is dispensed in a conventional pill bottle, it is up to the patient to self-regulate the number of pills that they take at any one time. While a doctor may refuse to refill a prescription before a certain period of days has elapsed, such as 25 days into a 30 day prescription, the patient may still take too many pills during that time.
Restricted access to pill containers can be provided by including a combination or other lock on the cover. Without the combination, the container cannot be opened. However, once a patient has the combination and opens the container, they can access the all of the pills inside.
Various attempts have been made to provide a pill container that dispenses one or a limited number of pills upon entry of a password. Existing devices rely on electrical mechanical system that can be complex to manufacture. In addition, by relying on electrical components, the device may fail to operate if the battery is dead, possibly depriving the patient of critical medication. Further, these devices can be difficult to recycle particularly because of the difficulty and expense required to sterilize electrical parts without damaging them. As a result, such containers can be costly to provide for use.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a locking container that allows limited access to stored pills upon entry of a password and which does not rely on electronic or electronical mechanical apparatus.
There is a further need to provide such a locking container that, allows sequential access to stored pills upon entry of sequential passwords and which can be easily configured with a wide variety of passwords with minimal changes to the system assembly.
Yet a further need is to provide such a locking container that can be easily filled with medication during manufacturing or by a doctor or pharmacist dispensing the medicine and which cannot easily be opened by a patient who lacks the proper combinations.
An additional need is to provide a locking container that can be easily be recycled and where most or all of the parts can be sterilized for reuse.